how much flax would I need to grow to make something?

A long time ago I grew a bed of flax, just to try it. I loved the plant and collected the seed, but didn't have a good resource to know how to harvest the fibers. I love linen, however, and would love to try growing and making my own. So my question is, how much flax would I need to grow to say, make a summer blouse? I know there are a lot of variables, so maybe a ballpark idea would be a start. Any idea?

I am afraid I am no help to you but I am so glad you asked the question because I have been wondering the same thing. I have flax seed to plant this spring but not sure how much is needed. Here's hoping someone out there can help us both!

sorry more questions than answers here too.  I have heard also that there are flax strains more for the seeds and others more for the fibres.  Is this true?  Are there in between varieties that do an ok job of both?  And If I am working in small urban lots does growing flax for fiber make sense?

I spent some time looking into this since I was curious too. It looks like the answer might be a bit complicated. From what I was reading, it is going to vary by how thick you spin the thread and how tightly you weave the fibers together. Hopefully someone who works with it regularly can offer a rule of thumb for homemade linen. What I did uncover was a formula for determining a measurement of thickness known as "lea". Unfortunately I can't seem to figure out a way of making that number useful to answering this question in any meaningful way.

It's one of the most asked questions and the hardest to answer.

It depends.
Most of all, it depends on your skill at processing fibre.  Someone just starting might get 1/4 of the amount of someone who's been doing it for a few years.  
Also, the weather that year, the soil, sunlight, dew, how you ret,... so many things.

The books don't help much as there is a great variety of opinion.  

The most popular opinion at the moment is that a 10'x5' plot should grow 8oz of flax fibre (but they don't say if that is just line or line and tow).  

For a first patch, a couple of square yards is a good place to begin.  It's enough you can get a taste for it but not so much that you feel overwhelmed.


I do go into it a bit here https://permies.com/t/flaxtolinen#428976

Nicholas Laan wrote:sorry more questions than answers here too.  I have heard also that there are flax strains more for the seeds and others more for the fibres.  Is this true?  Are there in-between varieties that do an ok job of both?  And If I am working in small urban lots does growing flax for fiber make sense?

There are over 200 different varieties of flax (Linum usitatissimum).  Some grow 8 inches tall, others 2 yards.  Think about how many different varieties of tomatoes there are, it gives an idea of how varied flax can be.

However, I've managed to get fibre out of the short flax just as well as the tall.

I go into this more in my book Homegrown Linen, but in short, there was an experiment.  I got in trouble for it, but the results were that you can get very good fibre out of grocery store flax so long as you plant them close together so they don't branch out.  Even if they do branch, you can get tow fibre which is very useful stuff (and easier to turn into yarn than line).

I wonder if you can manipulate it any based on fertilizer and extra water? Some plants get leggy if the soil is too rich, so perhaps a flax variety which is naturally tall planted in rich soil would get even taller? I’d be concerned about strong winds though, leggy plants can get blown over more easily.

This is an interesting question. And as always the answer is 'it depends ...'.
I don't think I will make my own home grown linen blouse. I grow a tiny patch of flax every year and all that's grown until now hangs like dry flowers in the storage room. I'm sure it's hardly enough for a napkin. It's still flax stems now, it takes so many processings to change it into fiber, and then it has to be woven ....
I am not a real good spinner or weaver, so even if my flax will become linen fiber, it won't become the kind of fine linen fabric suited for a blouse, if I do all of it myself. Maybe I shouldn't even try to do it all myself.

r ranson wrote:It's one of the most asked questions and the hardest to answer.

Kind of like, "how many goats can I keep on one acre."

The most popular opinion at the moment is that a 10'x5' plot should grow 8oz of flax fibre (but they don't say if that is just line or line and tow).

Well, it's something and it's a starting point. Your advice to try a couple square yards at first is a good idea.

I do go into it a bit here https://permies.com/t/flaxtolinen#428976

Excellent! Lots of helpful information. Thanks!

I hope to grow some flax some day.  I've seen flax grown as an ornamental plant here so I think I can do it.  We have a very short growing season here so it's always a challenge to figure out what to grow.  In the meantime I'm learning how to spin flax (badly so far, I need a distaff I think) so I'm up on that part of things.